<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Enter the Hall by Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26143396">Enter the Hall</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains/pseuds/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains'>Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Tears and Ash [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hercules: The Legendary Journeys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, dream - Freeform, world building</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2018-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2018-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:01:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26143396</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains/pseuds/Pearl_Pilots_In_Chains</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Orestes finds himself in an unusual place.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Tears and Ash [29]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1050806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Enter the Hall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is another one of my HTLJ fics from 2018 (set in my "Of Tears and Ash" AU) that I never posted, but decided I might as well, considering the time I put into them. Once again, since I'm no longer really in the fandom, I'm backdating this to when I wrote it, so no one thinks I'm suddenly back into HTLJ.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Orestes glanced about, taking in his surroundings carefully.It seemed as though he was in the midst of a hall of some sort, though the construction of it was not one which was familiar to his eyes.The ceiling arched high above him, presumably curving up to reach a point somewhere in the darkness beyond the range of his vision.The structure was held up by thick wooden beams, which appeared to be quite strong from a purely visual appraisal.Occasional braziers, placed at regular positions along the floor in two continuous lines along either side of the hall, cast the light of numerous flickering flames both up over the walls and into the open space within the center of the hall.The overarching shape of the building was relatively rectangular, from what Orestes could make out, though the exact point where the building terminated, at least in the direction he was facing, was difficult to ascertain.It seemed to go on beyond the scope of his sight, the line of braziers eventually fading away, and the far edge of the room fading into a murky sort of darkness, which his eyes were incapable of penetrating, regardless of how much he squinted.He spun about to regard the portion of the space behind him and found that it was quite similar in composition to that which lay before him.</p>
<p>The entire space between the rows of braziers was open and empty, with no furnishings or anything of the sort to be found.Throwing his gaze downward, Orestes discovered that the floor seemed to be made out of wood as well, a network of boards beneath his feet.All in all, it was a rather strange environment to suddenly find oneself in.Orestes suspected that it was all very a dream, given that he had no evidence to the contrary.Nonetheless, he resolved to make the most of it while he could do so.Setting his sights straight ahead of him, he strode forward, intent on seeing if he could pierce the darkness ahead by cutting down on the distance between himself and it.He soon came to the realization that this was a fruitless labor.After a solid minute or so of walking, by the rough estimate of his mind, it appeared as though he was no closer to the point where the row of braziers ceased, and the darkness took hold than he had been when he initially began moving.The distance was just as great by his visual measurement.He furrowed his brow, narrowing his eyes slightly as he glared at the space ahead of him, considering his options.It no longer seemed to him as though it would be worth his time or while to attempt to seek out the darkness.There was now a distinct possibility that whatever it held lay outside the confines of this particular dream.</p>
<p>Spinning about, Orestes took in the hall behind him once more.Just as he had observed the first time he scanned this portion of the space, there were no easily identifiable differences between the two directions.In fact, he was momentarily disoriented as he rotated, due to the fact that the identical appearance of the direction which he came to face briefly made him feel as though he had not moved at all, and that his very sense of his own body was betraying him.This was a disconcerting thought indeed, but he cast it aside before he could dwell too heavily on it, as he was well aware that doing so would only serve to further disquiet his mind at the very least, and throw him into a state of paranoia at the worst, neither of which were outcomes which he viewed with any particular favor.In fact, quite the contrary was true.</p>
<p>Just as he was preparing to set off in the new direction which he now faced, an unusually tinted fragment of light caught Orestes’s eye in the space high above him.Looking up, he sought out the source of this strange illumination, and discovered it quickly enough.Far up within the darkness, a sliver of blue, glimmering light had appeared.Orestes had the strong impression that it was growing closer to him as well, as the dimensions of it seemed to be gradually expanded.He watched with interest as it slowly transformed from a bare sliver, only visible within the darkness because of the contrast which it provided, into a full crescent, redolent of the moon hanging in the sky.In fact, he came to the conclusion that in its current shape, it would be nigh indistinguishable from that particular celestial object, were it not for the peculiar color which shone from this light.Continuing to watch, now transfixed by this odd spectacle, Orestes noted that the radiance from the light appeared to be growing in power, a change which in his mind further confirmed his previous suspicion that the light was getting closer to him.In concert with this strengthening, the shape of the light’s source also continued to change.Here, the similarities to the moon became even more pronounced, as the shape of the source grew from a mere crescent to a full-semi circle, and from there, began to wax even fuller.As it finally blossomed into a completely circle, the illumination which emanated out of it, which had been steadily increasing in force, now reached a point where it was nearly blinding. </p>
<p>Orestes squinted against, barely able to stand the brilliance, but somehow reluctant, or perhaps even unable, to look away from the light, mesmerized by some ineffable quality within it.At last, he could bear the light no longer.It was all about him, showering him with ceaseless glory and ceaseless fury alike.His eyes, which he had already reduced to slits, shut of their own accord, a protective reflex.He shook his head, willing them to open once more, but they refused to do so.For a few moments more, he could still sense the light, just beyond the shield of his eyelids, pressing up against the skin.Then, suddenly, the light was gone, the surface of his lids against his eyes dark and calm once more.Briefly, he felt a curious sense of loss pass through his body, running like a tremor down from his skull, passing through his spine as if descending a staircase, and finally shooting down through his legs quickly, as if falling from a great height, and then exiting from the soles of his feet.Hesitantly, almost loathe to see what now lay about him, Orestes pried open his eyes.He was greeted by the sight of the pre-dawn sky above him, the first specks of light from the soon-to-be-rising sun visible off in the distance.He was once more in his bedroll.Looking around, he found that the camp was just as it had been when his shift earlier in the night had ended, and he retired to his roll.Searching about visually a bit more, he discovered Iphicles sitting by the now long-dead fire, carrying out the remainder of his shift.Orestes rolled over in his bedroll, his mind preoccupied with perplexing thoughts, the last vestiges of his evening vision and the sensations which had accompanied it still lingering within his mental landscape.Perhaps he would mention his experience, in all its oddity, to his friend later in the day.For now, however, he would contemplate it himself.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>